North Korea continues to condemn the joint military drills held by United States and South Korean troops, threatening to retaliate with a physical response should the drills go on.

The North's official Rodong Sinmun on Saturday accused the South Korean military of shifting the responsibility of raising tensions on the Korean Peninsula after the South stressed the Ulchi Freedom Guardian drills were defensive exercises.

The paper also cited a previous statement from the spokesperson of the North's General Staff of the Korean People's Army that mentioned a pre-emptive strike, saying the North does not make empty threats and that it was a resolute decision based on the current situation.

The Rodong Sinmun went on to say North Korea's sincere efforts to stop hostile acts between the two Koreas had been ignored by Seoul and Washington and repeated threats of a "forceful physical retaliation to demolish the enemy's invasive challenges."